davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
TAE EATEEIIL NIGAT-


On the evening of May 4 about 2,010 people
assembled The managers placed the wagon
en- which the speakers were to stand little
way up Desplaines street from the Hay
market, by the mouth of a convenient alley,
and at q point where they could have a full
view Of the police as the latter advanced
from their Despleines Street station. Mayor
Carter Harrison was in the crowd and ex-
pressed some surprise at the mildness of the
first speakers, Spies and Parsons. The crowd
was disappointed, too, and was fast melting
away, when Fielden took his stand in the
wagon. His most intimate English friends
could not have recognized the mild Metho-
dist exhorter and laboFer of other days. His
frenzied defamation excited what remained
of the crowd, and their applause reacted on
him 1t was testified at the trial that he
called for immediate action in these words:
Arm! ARM! Throttle and kill the lawl
Then Inspector Bonfield decided to disperse
the meeting. Seven companies of policemen,
1T5 men, il platoons reaching from curb to
curb, marched from their station of Des-
PLANES street north to the wagon. AS they
drew near, Fielden is sworn to have shouted:
"Here come the bloodhounds; you do your
duty and I'll do minel"
Capt. Ward, of the police, called out:
''In the name of the people Of the state Of
Illinois l command you to peaceably dis
perse"
Fielden stepped down from the wagon ex-
claiming:
''We are peaceableiH
1t was claimed by the prosecution that the
word ''peaceable" was the signal agreed on.
There was dead silence for perhaps ten
seconds, the crowd slowly moving OF and
the police standing firm, when a strange
tizzing sound was heard near the mouth OF
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
FISCaE MS LITTER.

Cook COUNTY vAIL. CHICAGO, Nov. /. 1887.
80 NJ Il. J. OgleabJ, Governor Of the state of
DIN SRI am aware that petitions are being
circriatel and signed by t,s general public ask
i1g you to commute the sentence OF death which
state. Anent 5his action q a sympathzing and
well meaning portion of the people, soenlnly
declare that it has not my sanction. As q man Of
honor, as 2 man OF conscience and of
principle cannot accept mercy. ] an not guilty
of the charge in tie inGiItmcBt-Of murder.
ton of which know I tsn innocent. And should
/ ask mercy on account Of my principles which
! honestly believe to be true and noble? No.
an no hypocrite, and have. therefOre, no excuses
to OFFER with regard to being an AuarCaiSt, be-
cause the experiences Of the past eighteen months
have only streng gthcled my couvictio.s. The
question is, Am res DOns bic for the death Of the
policemen ct the haymaTket: and / say no. un-
less You assert that every AboitiOEist could have
been held responsible for the deeds Of John
History repeats itself As the powers that be
have at all times thought that they could stem
the progressive tide by CXtermincting few
"kiCHers 50 90 the ruling class of today imagine
that they can put q stop to the movement Of
labor emancipation by hsuging few of It's GdvO-
Gates. PROGRESS IA its Nl-,eriouS march has had
10 ov.r rcosua nas y obstacles which seemed in
The death of martyrs. The Obstacles which bar
rlG road of progress today seem to be i1Vinci0le,
too, but they VIII ba fTcfc0n3e nevertheless.
81 G.i uiAes win s-a CllllEiOn OF society has
bec1l- SUCH chat q L-f-s portion Of the people
coGz-ElziHe of the existing Injustice t19 ruling
CiGs-s haze denied tae truth of these complaints,
but have said tEa1 tH-t content Of the portion
Of the people III QAcs .4oa was due Only TO the
'DGl1i1lus il1Ecurs'' oi malicious GgitatCrs.' -
Goday, again, some people assert that the 'd-ti
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

The agitation growing out of the attempt
20 enforce the eight hour law led directly to
the tragedy. As early as May, 1884, the Or
ganized workingmen of Chicago gave notice
that on the 1st Of May, 1886, they would in
sist upon the general observance of the law.
It is not necessary to detail the numerous
strikes and occasional riots of the following
two years in various sections of the country;
suffice it, that each one was eagerly seized
upon by the anarchists as fresh proof that
capital was crushing labor.
On April 25, 1885, the new board of trade
building was formally opened; there was
somewhat riotous popular demonstration
against it, and Fielden and Parsons addressed
the assemblage in language more inflamma-
tory than ever before. In July, 1885, there
was general strike Of street car employees.
One riot was excited which was only
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

Louis Lingg, who is convicted of having
made the bombs, is but % years old and cannot
s:eal, English. He is said to have been expelled
from Germany, where he was born, Tor con-
sriracy.
Michael Schwab is native Of Mannheim. Ger
many, was born in 1873 and was educated in a
convent Coming to America in 1879, he worked
fer time ar the booL binders trade. He became
connected with The Arbeiter Eeitung at the same
lime as Spies.
George Enrel was born in Cassel, Germany. in
ieJ5, received q coClmon school education learned
the printers trade ana came to America in 1873
year later he located in Chicago, where he soon
embraced Socialism and became an Anarchist
He established the Northwest Group in 1883
Ad0ph Fischer is aGout 30 years of age and is a
German. He came to america when a lad end
earned the printers TRADE with his brother, who
published . German weekly at Nashville Tenn.
Later Adolph edited and published The Little
Ic.- tAr-c) staats La-tul- which he sold in 1881
Lseu he Wort i Of lis Cra1o il St. Louis and Chi
caco. lie sometimes accused Spies ana gchwab
oE being too mild, and at enc time ese1blished
Ter Anarchist, paper iLla2ied TO supplant The
arhtijer Eejsuug.
Oscar Nea5a, who received o sentence of fifteen
years IA the state prison, IS also a middle aged
German.
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
COUNSEL FOR DEFENSE.

Of Landeck'' central Germany; one of his early
pIaythings was an CID torture rack with which
the mobiles used tc cxtort money from Jews or
regulate the peasants, and his fa7orite haunt
in childhood WAS ca the edge of a deep chaSln
into which tho robber barons used to throw 'the
pretty girls OF the village whom they had kid
naped and Of whom they had tired There he
grew ND, and thence he came to America to teach
the Anarchistie doctrine, reaching the new world
IN 1g12 and Chica~o year later. There he
worked as an upholaCerer for q number OF years.
lie first slowed el interest in the theories Of
Socialism in 1875, lad in joined himself to tie
LehT und Welr-Vcreil. he was attached to The
Arbeiter ZeitCng in 1880 and succeeded Paul
Croft au as editor il chef in 1884 Everybody
remembers the attachment that sprung up be-
tween him ard Hiss -,ine Van Zardt during the
trial. and which resulted n their marriage "by
proz--."
Samuel Fie'Gen was born in Todmorden, Ian
cashre, England, IN 1871, He grew up to be
iaborer and Q Methodist field preacher. In 1868
he came To America, and soon located in Chicago,
where he Joined the I beral league in 1880; there
be met Spies and Parsons, and thereafter grew
rapidly into enareliei views. Save him end Par
sons, all the condemn I'd are Germans.
Albert r. Parsons is the only native American
among the condemned men. Bern in Alabama
in 1913 and early left an orphan, be was reared
by his brother, who was afterwards the noted
Confederate general, W. II, Parsons. Ea served
in the Confederate artillery when but Il years
DID, but after the war he became a Repub-
lean, and in 1872 married woman suspected
Of having negro blood in her veins fer which
uis brother disowned hInl. Before this he had
been first printer on The Galveston (Tex) News
and late editor Of the Waco (Tex) Spectator
Because OF this marriage he was OBLIGED to leave
Texas, and locating in Chicago he worked in
various printing Offices, but after a time became
professional labor agitator; was at one time
master workman Of District Assembly q, Knights
Of Labor, and was president of the trades as
semby for three years He was nominated for
The presidency by The Socastic party in 1880, but
declined. as lie was not then 35 years Of age IN
1883, at Pittshurg, he helped frame the platform
OF the International Working Peoples associa-
ton. lie was named for city clerk OF Chicago by
the Socialists n 1G13, and became editor of The
Alarm, tie olgan of the ''AmeEssan Group
year later.
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
JUST BEFORE THE TRAGEDY.

SOol I'LL Sih- '''I i'hNSGCtF
The evolution of the tragedy was curiously
regular.
First, as has been shown, these men taught
radical Socialism Next, they organized dis
contented workingmen to act more efficiently
in strikes. The usual trouble arose: ''scaos'
took the place of striking workmen, they
were attacked by the strikers, the police were
called on for protection and the inevita ole
question was presented-shall we fight? The
Anarchists, in speech and in The Arbeter
Zcioung, vehemently urged DESTRUCTIVE
measures. They exhorted the strikers to
nght both the ''sca)s" and the police, gave
minute instructions how to use nitro-glycerine
and manufacture bombs and had EARNED
sections of their supporters who drilled
nightly and were instructed in the use OF
bombs
At length it was boldly announced that the
Anarchists had 1000 armed and well drilled
revolutionists in Chicago, and it was proved
that they really had 1000 at this time, as was
sworn to during the trial. The Arbeiter lei
uung and The Alarm published many such
sentiments as these:
Daggers and rcvolvers ere easily to be gotten;
hand Erenades are cheaply to he produced.
VIII the workngmen supply themselves with
weapons dynamite and prussic acidr
The workiugmen ought to take aim at every
Tuember of the militia.
And while the writer's acted with v hat
they probably considered caution, the speak
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

have on them. and they did not act as if
| they heard it at all"
! The day fixed for tins execution Of the
Anarchists dawned bright and clear. The
early morning air was rather sharp, but as
the day advanced the sun shone out warm
end pleasant Soon after sunrise people
| could be seen hurrying along all the central
thoToughfarss of the city, intent upon So
curing places in the immediate vicinity OF
tie county jail, where the execution was to
take place, and by 9 O'Clock there had coll
lected quite large number but not near as
large as many had expected. The suns
rays lighted up the dingy looking buildings,
comprising the criminal court aud county
iel covering tho east half of the square,
bounded BY Dearborn avenue and Illinois,
Clark and Michigan streets, just below the
point where the ra-faShonable section
North SIDE of the city begins. Lines Of
grim aud determined looking policemen,
armod with rifles, aud seemingly amply
prepared for any emergency, stretched all
about The square in which the jail is s.tua-
ted, aud no one except representatives of
the press properly accredited and vslious
city officials we're allowed to enter tbs IN
terdietel section
On too Of the jail, and on the toys of
numerous iijings in the immediate neigh
borECoj We're TO be seen more armed police
men really from thar elevated places to aid
il suupressing any disturbance that might
arise. Other policemen were pacing up and
down Clark street, the great thorouy hcare
Of tbe North Side, some distance from the
jail, keeping sharp watch on the move
meats OF those who wore gathering on all
the streets contiguous to the scene of execu-
ton. l. was L strange, unusual sight The
suspense was something terrible There was
nothing to see except the lines of blue coated
gusrAians of law and order, and the brick
walls OF the jail in the distance of the en-
closed scsne of death. Men looked at each
o:her with something Of awe, and perhaY! /!
something of fear in their eyes. Fe "
laughed or jested; few but wore undep gbe
spell and influence of this iates4e tragejy Of
the laws vindioation.
Sheriff Matson arrived at O'clock There
was & look of intense anxiety upon bis face
and it wes plain to be seen that he realized
the terrible responsibility which in few
nours would fall to his lot. He made his
way through the crowded room to the inner
corridor, Joined the death watch and paced
up and down with him for several minutes.
Satisfied that all was vs |, he retired again
and closetei himself Witl. Jaler Folz in the
private Office of the latter
A moment later Fischer awole with a
start. He YawMed. rllbbed his ewes. looked
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
ly about Anarchy, the

There is not another such woman in
the country" he said, in a tone of pride.
did you notice" said Spies, in one of his
bursts, show the judge and jury trembed
when we were convicted, and did you notice
that none of us Anarchists were a particle
affected? That judge and jury had rea-
son to be afraid That they lad reason
to trsmhle. In five or six years these peo.
pie will see their error, if they do not see it
sooner"
did the men startle or betray themselves
in any wsy when the loud noise Of putting
up the scaTold was made?' was asked of the
death watch
mo cir, they did not even Eaise their eyes
We watohed that 70 see what effect il wouli
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17


struction OF the two sections in the revised
statutes OF Illinois chapter 3S, div 2, sections
2 and 8, which abolish the previous fistirc-
ton between principal and accessory, and
provide that any one who, mot being pres
sent, hath advised, encouraged, aided or
abetted = = s. shall be considered as
principal and = :: may be punished as
such, whether to principal is convicted O.
not" On t2c 1t.h Of September the court
rendered an opinion, which fills TWEEN 1y-ono
closely prihtCl: columns, and Is an exhaust We
exposition Of tie law, fully confirming The
decision o. tAa court below. And so tbe 25l.-7-
o,er5 we're sentenced to be hanged en- ths
11th Of November, 1857. another hc9e re-
maincd Gen. Roger 4. Pryor, Gen. Dol.a
min II. Butler and Lion. Randolph Tucker v-ero
employed as experts il constitutional law.
and an appeal made TO the supreme ccur5 O.
the UEited States, Gbe chief allegation b-.I,g
tbat the accused hGd net been tried By an
''irnpartial jury as required by the na. iolla
constitution. The revised statutes Of Illinois
permit the choice of jurynan vlo has
formed an opinion from reading new paper
accounts Of the case, provided le MAKE oatA
that his opinion is not such IS could not bs
overthrown by evidence. The question OF
the taking of a letter without warrant from
Spies desk was also brOugh5 up.
Tho supreme court Of the United 9tats5
rendered its decision On the Cd Of Move -nieI',
holding, in brief, that the j;lry law of lir5is
does not conuavene any provision Of tie na-
tie,,al constitution, and that the question as
to whether the state constitution and laws
had been strictly observed was ono for tho
state courts alone. The court confined itsaIi
very strictly to the case before it, entering
into the general questions raised only 50 far
as absolutely necessary. But two points,
therefore, were passed upon il regard to he
amendments. The court held that th9 .'st
ten amendments limit the powers Of ti2u Fed
eral government, not the powers Of : state
over its citizens; and that the FoI1 ,aelth
amendment has not changed the rule in that
respect. In all other matters the court holds
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
APPEALS TO HIGHER COURTS.

The usual application for q new trial was
fled and the entire method of the trial re-
argued for severcl days. The application be-
iTg refused, an appeal was taken TO the
supreme court Of Illinois, and once more the
whole case was thoroughly argued. It is
needless to detail the legal steps; suffice it
that SO much time was consumed that. the
case did not reach the supreme court till
March II, 1887. Then Messrs. Grinnell,
Walker, Insham and Attorney General
Hunt, for the state, and Messrs. Blacll, SaIo-
mon, Zeisler and Leonard SWEET, for tho de-
fense, discussed the issues as to whether the
court below had erred, whether the Anar-
chists had been legally condemned to death
for mere conspiracy, whether the jury was
properly constituted and many others.
The weight OF argument before The
supreme court turned upon the proper con.
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17


jail officials and specials, together with tho
noise created by the erection of the seafYold,
helped to keep them awake. Spies was
rather talkatiYe and Id much of the time
~. nis back, with his hands above his
head.
The Rev. Mr.. Bolton, CT the First Meth
odiat Episcopal church, who visited all the
prisoners and spent two hours laboring
among them and begging them to let
him pray for them, retired the picture of
gloom.
"What can you do with a man like thatg'
said Snies in a njtyin,r tone SIS the u1iniStar
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

bis friends At the close, when asked by the
court if they had aught to say Why Sentence
of death should not DO pronounced, they all
made long addresses, those of Parsons and
Tielden being the best. That of Spies con-
sisted of pleading and defiance, reasoning on
liberty and quotations from Scripture. Il,
the course of his remarks he spoke Of Christ
as Socialist. Schwab and Neebe gave ar
guments against the regularity Of the trial.
Fielden excited some astonishment By say
ing: ''The great Socialist, Jesus Christ, said
1850 years ago: Better that ninet. miro
guilty men should go unpunished than that
one innocent man should suffer-" Judge
Gary then sentenced the seven men TO be
bar,-ra1
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

The Chicago groups were known as the
North Side, the Northwest Side, the Anlori-
can, the Karl Marx, the Freiheit, the South
west Side and Jefferson No. 1. Schwab,
Neebe and Lingg belonged to the North Side
GROUP" Engel and Fischer to the Northwest
Side, and Spies, Parsons and Fielden to the
American. There was also an armed social
isSic organization called the Lehr und Wehr-
Verein, whose members seem to have also
been members of the international groups
but to have been of a higher rank.
The branch of the International Working
mems association which existed in Chicago
during 1895 and up to May 4, 1885, was com
pact, well disciplined organization. At the
head of it was a general or central commit
tee Next to it came the Lehr und Wehr-
Nerein. Then came the EARNED sections of
the various "groups," and then came the un-
armed members of the groups"
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

at the entrance to tbs criminal court
through " 4ich one must pass to reach the
jail, stood all night long two stalwart Off
cers with guns, while back and forth on
Michigan street, from Clark to Dear born
street, paced half dozen blue coats with
heavy tread Within the Jail yard blue
coated sentries marched back and forth,
scanning closely the faces of all who
passed
The first death watch, consisting of eight
deputies, went on at s clock, and were
relieved by a second watch at t. H.
The night were dreamily along, the con-
demned men demeaniuc Themselves in a
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

a 4+caliber revolver and a peculiar knife
rnade from & fat file AL were released af-
ter the inquest except Schwab, Fischer and
August Spies. The condemned and some
others were held without bail. May Il, The
grand jury met and listened TO charge by
the late Judge Rogers; on the 9th they
handed in indictments against the men since
condemned and Anton Hirschburger and
John APPEL besides On making up his case
the prosecutor nollied the indictments
against the last two, the evidence being in
sufficient. On the 2lst of June the trial be-
gan before Judge Gary. Three weeks and
three days were consumed in making up q
jury; 1881 talesmen were examined, both
sides exhansting every power the law gave
them. The names of the jury were as fol-
lows:
Frank S. Osborne, foreman; James II. Cole,
Scott G. Randall, Theodore E. Denker, Charles 3.
Todd, Andrew Hamilton, Charles il. I4udwi :,
James FL, Brayton, Alanson II. Reed. John 3.
Grenier, George ". Adams, Howard 7. Sanford,
The trial lasted from July 15 to Aug. 20 in
elusive and attracted the attention of tie
civilized world-scarcely more by the impor-
tance of the issues than by the abilities Of
the counsel. On behalf of the state appeared
States Attorney Julius S. Grinnell, assisted
by Messrs. Frank Walker, Edmund Furth-
man and George C. Ingham; for the accused,
Capt. W. P. Black, Moses Salomon, W 4.
Foster and Signund Zeisler. The jury
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
agftators are the cause Of the immense dissatis.

ag1tators' are the cause OF the immense dissatis.
faction among the working people.
On. you people who speak thus. can y<l,l not or
VIII you not read the signs of tie times? Do you
not see tlat the clouds on the social frmarient
are thichening? Are you not for instaa awaro
transportation, etc, is constantly c0pceufrst ins.
IN fewer hands; that the mcnopolists i e. The
shaIpS among the capitalists, swallow the little
ones among them; that trusts pools and
other combinations are being formed in order to
more thoroughly and systematically fleece the
Veioprnent OF technic and machinery is from year
TO year throwing more workmen on the wavside;
that IN some parts of this great and fertile land
meJoTIty Of the farmers are obliged to mortgage
their homes IN order to satisfy the greed of mon
Stroas corporations; that. in short, the rich are
conStantly " growing richer end the poor poorer
Yes, end do you not comprehend that ali these
eVliS ma Their origin in the present institution of
society which allows one portion of the human
race TO build fortunes upon the misfortunes of
others-to enslave their fellow men?
instead OF trying to remedy these evils and in
stead OF ascertaining just what the cause of the
widening dissatisfaction is, tine ruling classes
through their mouthpieces-press pulpit etc
ueitfne ana miSrepTeSent the character teach
ings and motives of the advocates of social recon-
struction, and use the rifle and the club on them
and, If the opportunity is favorable send them 10
AS an answer may as well quote the following
WORDS with which benjamin Franklin closed his
satirlcal essay, Rules for Reducing a Great Tf,-
pro TO Small One,'' which he dedicated to the
English government in 1776: Suppose all their
Che 'kickerS) complaints to be invented and pro-
nloted py a lew factious dema9ogues, whom if
you could catch and hang all would lie Quiet
Catch and hang few accordingly and the blood
CT the martyrs shall work miracles IN favor of
your purpose" Il. e., your own ruin).
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17
said Spies, in plying tone. Us the minister

walked from his
cell. When DR..
Bolton asked him
il no would not let
him pray for him
he said, with some
disdain: "No, ]
do not need your
prayers; go and
pray for those
that need them. "
Parsons reprove1
the doctor for ask p
ing if he might
pray for him.
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

was afberward a d
claimed, threw the
bomb, was among
those arrested, but
t he evid enc Q
against him was
not deemed sum-
cient to hold him
and he was rs
leased. He iname-
diateiy left Ameri-
ca and is now sup
posed to be in Ger
IN any. A d ol p h
Fischer was one OF
the printers, and on
his person when an
rested were fOund
The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-11-17

Gp at the daylight
thst was now creep
ing III through the
skylights, spran g
lightly from his cot
aud commenced to
;iress. There was
E suiien LOOK upon
his face and he
only grurted when
the death watch
wished him 9
CHEEKY good morn
ing. Almost at the
aame TnGGent En-
gel erOse and Spies
awote. Enzel at